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Who really started the KKK
Executive summary
Contemporary reporting and historical summaries agree the Ku Klux Klan began in the wake of the Civil War in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1865 as a group formed by six Confederate veterans; that first organization evolved into a violent "Invisible Empire" and later reorganized under leaders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest (named grand wizard by 1867) before federal suppression in the early 1870s [1] [2] [3]. A distinct, much larger "second" Klan was founded in 1915 by William J. Simmons and expanded rapidly in the early 1920s with professional promotion and advertising help [4] [5].
1. The Pulaski origin: six veterans who started a secret society
Multiple authoritative histories trace the Klan’s origin to a small social club created in Pulaski, Tennessee, around late 1865 or early 1866 by six former Confederate soldiers — often named as James Crowe, Richard Reed, Calvin (Thomas) Jones, John Lester, Frank McCord, and John Kennedy — who initially formed a fraternal order that soon took on vigilante aims [6] [1] [7].
2. From fraternal club to terrorist “Invisible Empire”
Sources emphasize that the Pulaski group quickly shifted from fraternity to organized intimidation. By 1868–1870 the original Klan had expanded through the South and used hooded costumes, "night rides," and violence to oppose Reconstruction and suppress Black political participation, becoming what contemporaries called the "Invisible Empire" [3] [1] [8].
3. Nathan Bedford Forrest: prominence, controversy and a grand wizard title
Contemporary and later accounts identify Nathan Bedford Forrest — a former Confederate general — as the Klan’s most prominent early leader, elected grand wizard after the organization’s early growth; his stature helped widen recruitment, though the precise extent of his operational control and his later denials are subjects of dispute in the record [2] [9] [3].
4. Federal crackdown and the First Klan’s decline
Congress and the Grant administration moved to suppress Klan terrorism: by the early 1870s legislation and prosecutions, including the Ku Klux Klan Act, diminished the original Klan’s national coherence and forced many local groups underground, even as some local activity persisted [3] [7].
5. A second Klan rises in 1915 under William J. Simmons
Histories describe a separate—and ideologically broader—rebirth in 1915 when William J. Simmons founded a new Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, drawing on nativist currents, the film Birth of a Nation, and anti-immigrant/anti-Semitic sentiment; this second Klan professionalized recruitment, used advertising partners, and swelled into the millions during the early 1920s [4] [5] [10].
6. Multiple incarnations: three broad Klan eras, many leaders
Scholars and civil-rights monitors frame Klan history as three main waves: the Reconstruction-era Klan (ca. 1865–1872), the mass 1915–1920s Klan dominated by figures such as Simmons and later Hiram Wesley Evans, and later splintered post‑World War II factions and modern variants led by various individuals (David Duke, Tom Metzger, and others founded or led separate chapters/factions) — underscoring that “who started the KKK” depends on which incarnation is meant [8] [11] [12].
7. Why the question of “who started it” matters politically and historically
As the sources show, crediting a single founder obscures the Klan’s layered origins: an initial local founding by six veterans, rapid expansion aided by prominent ex-Confederates like Forrest, federal policy responses, and a separate 20th‑century reinvention under Simmons with commercial promotion [6] [9] [4] [5]. Each phase reflects different social forces — Reconstruction backlash, early‑20th‑century nativism, or later white‑power networking — that shaped how the organization acted and recruited [7] [10].
8. Competing viewpoints and limits of the record
Some sources stress the symbolic role of Forrest as a founder or first grand wizard but also note disputes over his exact influence and later denials [9] [2]. Others emphasize the six Pulaski organizers as the literal founders, while 20th‑century histories treat Simmons as founder of a distinct, second Klan [6] [4]. Available sources do not mention a single, universally recognized individual as sole founder of “the KKK” across all eras (not found in current reporting).
9. Takeaway for readers
If you mean the original Reconstruction Klan, it began in Pulaski, Tennessee, as a six‑man fraternity that became a terror network, with Nathan Bedford Forrest later elevated as grand wizard [6] [3]. If you mean the mass 20th‑century Klan that reshaped American politics in the 1920s, that was launched by William J. Simmons in 1915 and scaled through marketing and recruitment tactics [4] [5]. Both interpretations are supported by the cited records [1] [10].